GM Wesley So’s doppelgänger haunted him at Sinquefield 2015 which also happens at US soil where many of his followers did not forget all the brouhaha especially the game forfeiture between GM Akobian. His performance noticeably deteriorating. Although no news was reported of strange behaviour(like writing irrelevant letters in his scoresheet, or any distracting items that affects his games) but it seems that the mark left after the US Chess Championship last April this year. Uncharacteristic games was played by Wesley on his previous tournaments, I myself, who follows his games believe that his performance is not the Wesley i admire before. Lets set the example of his games at Turkish Isbank Super League last month in Turkey. I compile his games on that tournament and for me, Wesley’s game is drowning game after game. He can’t find ways to win after his lowly rated opponents.

Do you think its time for Wesley to rejuvinate himself? Find a good coach for the betterment of his dwindling chess career!

Below are games of Wesley So that, afer the single-round-robin format tournament at Sinquefield Cup, finished at the bottom of the standings. After the 9 games, his live rating performance was decreased by -12.9 and out of the top 10 at Live Chess Ratings website.

GM Magnus Carlsen games at Sinquefield Cup 2015 is also not in the good form.

Aronian bags the title with 6 points on 3 wins 6 draws and no loss.

Next to Wesley’s games below are games of GM Magnus Carlsen at Sinquefield Cup 2015. All games came from en.chessbase.com. With the annotation of an author and chess player and of course Grand Master himself, GM Alejandro Ramirez.

Sinquefield Cup 2015 final standings

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Sinquefield Cup 2015

The third edition was held from August 22 to September 3, at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis as the second leg in the 2015 Grand Chess Tour. The tournament featured the seven top players in the world, a feat only surpassed by the AVRO 1938 chess tournament. The Sinquefield Cup is also the strongest tournament featured in the 2015 Grand Chess Tour with an average FIDE Rating of 2795.

The 2015 Sinquefield Cup was a nine game, single round-robin tournament. The time control for each round was of 40 moves in 2 hours, followed by the rest of the game in 1 hour with a 30-second increment from move 41. Wesley So was selected as the tournament invite and joined the nine other players already participating in the Grand Chess Tour. – wikipedia.org

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Round 1

So vs Lagrave

MVL won his game against Wesley So. So’s greedy approach in the opening was severely punished. Despite having an extra pawn, his position was simply terrible. Black’s pieces were too active and controlled the board. After White had to give up his light-squared bishop for the opponent’s knight it was clear that So was just trying to survive. He was unable to do so, and MVL took his extra exchange to victory.

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. g3 Bg7 6. Bg2 c5 7. Qa4+ Nc6 8. Ng5 An unusual move, though the maneuver is well know. White wants to put his knight on e4 to target c5.8…e6 9. Nge4 Nb6 10. Qb5?! Going for the pawn, this is too dangerous.
10…c4 11. Na4? White is too greedy. He will win a pawn, but his position will be awful.
[11. O-O was a better move.]
11…O-O 12. Nxb6 axb6 13. Qxc4 e5 White is up a pawn, but Black has a huge initiative. Be6 is coming soon, Nd4 is up in the air, and White is not close to finishing his development. So will soon be punished.14. Qc2 Be6 Around this time So went in the confessional booth, claiming that he would have to work hard to not simply lose – he was aware that something went wrong.15. Nc3 b5! A very nice move. White cannot really take on b5: 16. Bxc6
[16. Nxb5 Nb4 17. Qd1 Bd5 18. f3 Qb6 Black’s position is so active and White can’t even castle.]16… bxc6 17. b3 Bf5 18. d3
[18. Qb2 b4 is just over.]18… e4! The bishops are way too powerful. So must give back material.19. dxe4 Bxe4 20. Nxe4
[20. Qxe4 Bxc3+-+]20… Bxa1 21. O-O Re8 22. f3 Bd4+ 23. e3 Bg7 24. Rd1 Qc7 25. Rd6 c5 26. Rd5 Re5 27. Rd1 c4 28. a3 Re7 29. bxc4 Qxc4 White’s position is no good, and he is down material. MVL cleans up from here.30. Qd2 Qb3 31. Qd6 Rc8 32. Nf2 Rec7 33. Bd2 Bf8 34. Qd4 Bxa3 35. Kg2 Bb2 0-1

Round 2

Giri vs So

A very blocked position arose from the English opening in Anish Giri vs. Wesley So. Perhaps the Dutch player had a very small advantage from the opening with the superior pawn structure, but it wasn’t much. Eventually So was able to position his pieces well and advance the queenside pawns, while Giri did not create any real threats. The game was drawn in an opposite colored bishop endgame.

Wesley So beat Alexander Grischuk, or more accurately, Grischuk beat himself in a position that was perhaps slightly uncomfortable but defensible. Alas, Grischuk went nuts and committed suicide by breaking through on f5, allowing So to win a pawn and the game.

The game of the day was without a doubt the beautiful destruction of Wesley So. Levon Aronian’s spectacular knight sacrifice was very well founded, and with White’s lack of development he was simply torn apart.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 c5 5. d5 O-O 6. e4 d6 7. Nge2 a6!? An interestig idea. The sacrifice 7…b5 was played in Grischuk-Topalov earlier this year, with a great result for the Bulgarian. Aronian changes his approach and prepares b5, and interesting idea. 8. a4 Ba5!? Nice understanding from the Armenian. This threatsn b5 again! 9. Bd2
[9.Ng3 b5 10. axb5 axb5 and Black is better.]9… exd5 10. cxd5 Nh5! A very uncomfortable move for So. Now it is unclear how to develop his pieces.11. g3 Nd7 12. Bg2 b5 Black has good play all around the board.13. g4? So tries to push back Aronian, but the Armenian does not give back any ground!
[13. O-O b4 14. Nb1 is ok for Black but White isn’t doing that badly.]13… b4 14. Nb1
[14. gxh5 bxc3 15. bxc3 Qh4+ is not pleasant.]14… Qh4+ 15. Kf1 Ne5! The start of a very strong attack. There is nothing White can do but accept the piece.16. Be1?!
[16. Qe1 Qf6 17. gxh5 Nxf3-+]
[16. gxh5 f5 is too strong. Black is tooa active, White has no plan and it is uncomfortable to defend. And yet, this was the best continuation.]16…Qf6! 17. gxh5 Nxf3 18. Bf2 Bg4! Keeping the initiative seems much stronger to me than to go for material with Qxb2.19. Qc1
[19. Bxf3 Qxf3 20. Rg1 Qh3+ 21. Ke1 f5-+]19… Nd4! 20. Nxd4 cxd4 Black’s attack is way too strong. The king is weak, So has no development… how to defend this position?21. e5 trying to get some squares.21…dxe5 22. Nd2 Rac8 23. Qb1 b3! 24. Nxb3 Bb6 25. a5 Ba7
[25… Rc2!! is brilliant, but everything wins.]26. Kg1 Bf5! 27. Be4 Qg5+ 28. Kf1 Qf4 d3 comes next, White’s position clearly collapses. 0-1

Round 5

Carlsen vs So

Magnus Carlsen was able to obtain some pressure from the opening. Despite being down a pawn, his dominant knight on d5 was too strong. The combination of the strong knight and the pawn expansion on the kingside made the Black king very uncomfortable. Wesley So committed a mistake even though it was hard to make moves. Carlsen missed several winning moves, but it didn’t matter; his position was good enough.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f3 Nbd7 9. Qd2 b5 10. O-O-O Be7 11. g4 b4 12. Nd5 Bxd5 13. exd5 Nb6 14. Na5 Nbxd5 15. Nc4 Rare but possible. Dominguez used it many years ago to win a game against Predojevic. The idea is that White will seek compensation for his pawn by using the opposite colored bishops to restrain the d-pawn and create an initiative on the light squares. 15…Nxe3 16. Nxe3 O-O 17. Bc4 Nd7! After a long thing, this makes sense. The idea is that the knight will remaneuver to a more useful spot, like b6, and make the bishop on c4 uncomfortable.18. h4 a5
[18… Nb6 made more sense, but perhaps So didn’t want to allow Qxb4 19. Qxb4 d5 20. Qa5 unclear] 19. g5 Rc8 20. Bd5 Nb6 21. Kb1 Qc7 22. Rhf1 Nxd5 23. Nxd5 Qb7 24. f4 f5 White retains compensation for the pawn. His strong knight on d5 is untouchable, but a pawn is a pawn. 25. Qe3 e4 26. h5! White’s advance of this pawn is key. He will make Black’s position very uncomfortable as So cannot afford to open up the kingside. 26…Rc5 27. h6 g6 28. Qb3 So is in trouble, despite what the engines say. It is unpleasant to find moves and the king is always suffering. 28… Rf7 29. a4! Bd8 30. Rd4 putting on the squeeze. 30…Kf8 31. Rfd1 Rc6 32. Ne3 Bb6 what else? 33. Nc4
[33. Rxd6! was a big move, even if White retains the advantage in the game continuation. Rxd6 34. Rxd6 Bc7 35. Re6! The point is as follows: Bxf4 36. Nd5 Bxg5 37. Qc4! and the attack becomes too strong.]33… Bxd4
[33… Rxc4 34. Qxc4 Qc7 is no fun for So.]34. Nxa5 Qb6 35. Nxc6 Bc5
[35… Qxc6 36. Rxd4 and all of Black’s pawns are falling and the king feels unsafe.]36. Qd5 e3 37. a5! Qb5
[37… Qc7 was better resistance]38. Nd8! Ra7 39. Ne6+ Ke8 40. Nd4?
[40. Nxc5! was much stronger Qxc5 41. Qg8+ Kd7 42. Qxh7+ Kc6 43. Qxg6 and since e2 is not possible due to Qe8+ and Qxa5 isnt possible due to Qxd5+, Black is just lost.]40… Qxa5 41. Qg8+ Kd7 42. Qxh7+ Kc8 43. Qg8+ Kb7 44. c3 bxc3 45. Qb3+! Qb6 46. Qxb6+
[46. Qxc3! was very strong, though the move in the game should be better for white, Qxc3 seems winning. Black has too many problems to solve and his king is very weak.]46… Kxb6 47. bxc3 Bxd4 48. Rxd4 Kc6 49. Kc2 Ra2+ 50. Kd1 Rf2 51. Ke1 The pawn on h6 is just too strong. Black has no hope to hold. 51…Kd7 52. Ra4 Ke6 53. Ra8 Rh2 54. c4 Kf7 55. Rb8 Ke6 56. Rg8 1-0

Round 6

So vs Nakamura

Wesley So played a very strange game. He confidently blitzed out twenty moves of theory, clearly prepared. Unfortunately, after that every move he played lasted at least fifteen minutes and were rather unconvincing. At one point it was clear that he had violated a couple of positional rules, or maybe twenty, and he was punished with a brilliancy. Nakamura sacrificed everything, including the kitchen sink, and mated So on g6 in a must-see game.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. f3 f5 11. Be3 f4 12. Bf2 g5 13. Nd3 Ng6 14. c5 Nf6 15. Rc1 Rf7 16. Kh1 h5 17. cxd6 cxd6 18. Nb5 a6 19. Na3 b5 20. Rc6 Up to this point So had played instantly. This is surprising as he has achieved nothing on the queenside. Nakamura continues his kingside attack.20…g4 21.Qc2 Qf8 22. Rc1 Bd7 23. Rc7? I don’t like this move at all. Releasing the tension on d6 and a6 is too lenient on Black’s position. Asked after the game what they thought of Wesley’s play, most of the players agreed that it looked completely wrong and anti-positional. “If it was White to move, I would consider playing Rc6 here” – Anish Giri.
[23. Nb4! Bxc6 (23… Bh6)
]23… Bh6 24. Be1 removing the bishop from potential g3 moves with tempo.24…h4 here the pawn on g4 is clearly poisoned to an experience KID player.25. fxg4 picking up the gauntlet, this is not good. That being said, I don’t know what else he could have done.25…f3 26. gxf3 Nxe4 27. Rd1? This makes things esay for Nakamura to calculate as almost every line wins.
[27. Rxd7 was a much better try. Rxf3! works anyway(27… Rxd7 28. fxe4)
28. Bxf3 Qxf3+ 29. Qg2 Qxd3 30. Rd1 Bd2!! is the key move. Nakamura did not see this, but he would have found that h3 instead of Bd2 was favorable for Black, and upon reaching this position probably would have found Bd2. 31. Bxd2 Nf4 and White is getting mated.]
[27. Nf2 Nxf2+ 28. Bxf2 Bxc1 29. Qxg6+ Rg7]
[27. Nc5! dxc5 28. Rxd7 Rxd7 29. Qxe4 Bxc1 30. Qxg6+ Rg7-+]27…Rxf3 28. Rxd7
[28. Bxf3 Qxf3+ 29. Qg2 Bxg4 is completely winning.]28… Rf1+! 29. Kg2 Be3! A very nice resource. There were other winning moves, but this is fantastic.
[29… h3+ 30. Kxh3 Rf2 was even more fantastic, and just as winning.31. Bxf2 Qxf2 32. Nxf2 Nf4+ 33. Kh4 Bg5#]30. Bg3
[30. h3 Nf4+ 31. Kh2 Nxd3 and with the elimination of the knight on d3 White’s dark squares fall apart.]30… hxg3 31. Rxf1 Nh4+ 32. Kh3 Qh6 White is up a rook, but his position is hopeless. He is simply getting mated. 33. g5 Nxg5+ The rest is a forced mating sequence.34. Kg4 every move wins here.34…Nhf3 35. Nf2 Qh4+ 36. Kf5 Rf8+ 37. Kg6 Rf6+! pretty but not the only way. 38. Kxf6 Ne4+ 39. Kg6 Qg5# 0-1

Round 7

Anand vs So

Anand saw himself in problems early in the opening against So. The Indian player mentioned that he must have done “something stupid” in the opening to get such a position, but was unable to pinpoint exactly what went awry. He was rather resourceful later on though, sacrificing a queen for a rook and a bishop after he had lost a pawn to obtain a situation in which Black’s king was somewhat uncomfortable, So’s pawns were weak and unable to advance. Anand took advantage of this to create a nice fortress, securing a draw.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. O-O Re8 8. Nc4 Nd7 9. b3 a5 10. a4 f6 This typical exchange Ruy Lopez type of structure has become more common as people are trying to avoid the endgame. However, it’s hard to say what White has in this position. He has no real pressure and Black has the pair of bishops. The awkward pawn structure is too vague to be exploited.11. Be3 Bb4 12. Rc1 b5 13. c3 Bf8 14. Nb2 Somehow I’m not convinced about putting a knight on b2.14…Nc5 15. Qc2 Bg4 16. d4 exd4 17. Nxd4 bxa4 18. Nxa4 Nxe4 Anand figured he had compensation at this point, but the position went south quickly. 19. f3 Nd6 20. Bf2
[20. fxg4 Rxe3 21. g5!? looks like some kind of aggressive try, but I don’t believe in it completely.]20… Bd7 21. c4 Qc8 22. Qc3 Nf5 23. Nc2 Nd6 24. Nd4 Nb7
[24… Re5!? 25. Bg3 Rh5 26. c5 Nb5 27. Qc4+ Kh8 28. Rfe1 Nxd4 29. Qxd4 was a suggestion by Anand. Still difficult for Black to win since the bishop on f8 is so bad.]25. c5! An important move, killing the bishop on f8 and making it hard for the knight on b7 to rejoin the game.25…Nd8 26. Nb2 Ne6 27. Nc4 Bxc5
[27… a4!? 28. bxa4 Rxa4 29. Nb2 Nxd4 30. Bxd4 is hard to make progress, but White just needs to defend and hope his fortress holds.]28. Nxe6 A queen sacrifice.28…Bb4 29. Nxg7 Bxc3 30. Nxe8 Bxe8 [30… Qxe8 31. Rxc3 Be6 32. Nd2 Bd5 33. Ne4 Bxe4 34. Re1 is still unclear, though the engines prefer Black.]31. Rxc3 The computers like Black a lot, but White is surprisingly close to a full fortress. Actually, if he gets his knight to c5, he will even be able to play for an advantage.31…Bf7 32. Nd2 f5 33. Rxc6 Anand didn’t want to play this, but he figured every pawn he took was a good thing.
[33. Nc4 Bxc4 34. Rxc4 Qb7 35. Rc3 is also close to a fortress.]33… Qd7 34. Rc2 Re8 35. Nc4 Bxc4 36. Rxc4 Re2 37. h3 Rd2 38. Re1 Rd1 39. Kh2 c6 your engine might say that this is better for Black, but the position is a dead draw after
[39… c6 40. Rxd1 Qxd1 41. Rc5! Qxb3 42. Rxa5 and there is no way the pawn on c6 ever makes it to c5.] 1/2-1/2

Round 8

Despite the fact that So-Topalov played over 50 moves, it didn’t last long in regards to playing time. Wesley So obtained a slight advantage somehow after Topalov made inaccurate form during the opening. Unfortunately, the position was so locked up that an incredible amount of precision was required in order to create even minor problems. So kept lashing out his moves, and was even above two hours on the clock (more than he started with, due to the extra hour at move 40) at some point. Topalov held comfortably in the endgame.

Caruana had a crushing position against So basically from the opening. The engines were screaming that Black was basically lost, but Caruana kept giving So opportunities to get back into the game. At the end of the day, enough mistakes allowed So to solidify his position and hold onto a draw.

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. g3 c5 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. O-O g6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Qxd4 Bg7 8. Nc3 d6 9. Be3 Nbd7 10. Rac1 Rc8 11. b3 a6 12. Rfd1 O-O 13. Qh4 Re8 This position is without a doubt Karjakin’s specialty. He has proven that it is very solid and difficult for White to do anything.
[13… Rc7 is another possibility.]14. Bh3 Rc7
[14… Ba8 is what Karjakin has been playing lately, aiming for a quick b5.]15. g4 Qa8 These players also took a long, long time to get to this position, despite being played in several high profile games. Topalov mentioned that he thought this idea of Qa8 was “basically losing”.16. Bd4 h6 17. g5 hxg5 18. Nxg5 e6 19. Be3 Clearly something is wrong for Black. For starters, d6 is very hard to defend, and h7 being weak is annoying.19…Qb8 20. Bf4 Bf8
[20… e5 offered more resistance if Caruana found the right way, but it looks positionally disastrous.]21. Rxd6?
[21. Bxd6! was already almost decisive. For example: Bxd6 22. Rxd6 White’s up a pawn, but the tactics don’t work for Black Rxc4 23. bxc4 Qxd6 24. Qh8+! The point. Kxh8 25. Nxf7+ Kg7 26. Nxd6+-]21… e5 Now the game is rather complicated 22. Rxd7 exf4 23. Rcd1 Bg7?! 24. R7d3
[24. R7d6! advantage for White]24… Rce7 25. Bg2 Bxg2 26. Kxg2 Nh5 27. Nd5 Rxe2 28. Qg4 Qd6 The position nis completely unclear. Black has some activity, but his knight on h5 isn’t great and White has a powerful one on d5. 29. Qf3 Qc5 30. R3d2 R2e5 31. h4 b5 32. Rc2 b4 I don’t know what So gained from closing down the queenside like this. 33. Rcd2 a5 34. Qg4 Bh6 35. Kf1 Rf5 36. Nf3 Bg7 By this point the players were in serious time pressure. 37. Qg2 a4 38. Rd3 Qa5 39. Ng5 axb3 40. axb3 Bf8 The last move of time pressure, but it lands Black in a little bit of trouble 41. Qf3 Bc5 42. Ne4 Kg7 43. Nxc5 Qxc5 44. Rd4 Kh6 45. Qd3 Kh7 46. Qf3 Re6 47. Kg1 The computers prefer White, but neither side saw a good way of improving their position.47… Qa5 48. Kg2 Kh6 49. R1d3 Qd8 50. Qg4 1/2-1/2

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Magnus Carlsen games at Sinquefield Cup 2015 is also not in the good form.

Below are games of GM Magnus Carlsen at Sinquefield Cup 2015. All games came from en.chessbase.com. With the annotation of an author and chess player and of course Grand Master himself, GM Alejandro Ramirez.

GM Magnus Carlsen not in good shape at Sinquefield Cup 2015. Photo courtesy of en.chessbase.com and Sinquefield Cup 2015

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Round 1

Carlsen vs Topalov

A spectacular series of fireworks in the Carlsen-Topalov game. Topalov opened with a crazy novelty: 7…g5!? which apparently had been analyzed in an article recently. Carlsen sacrificed a piece for two pawns as an initiative, but the Bulgarian was unfazed. He defended well, Carlsen continued to be aggressive, but it was to no avail. The attack never crashed through, and the pawns were not enough compensation for the extra piece. In a big time scramble Topalov won with his extra material.

Fabiano Caruana against Magnus Carlsen was a heartstopper. In a position that was very interesting, both players simply let their clock run out way too low. An unbelievable time scramble occurred, with both players falling to mere seconds to make their final moves. The engine evaluations kept changing wildly as the game became a bullet battle. On move 40, Caruana made a horrific blunder with only seconds left on his clock. He resigned as soon as he made time control.

Next, Magnus Carlsen converted a slow position against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The Frenchman came out worse from the opening, but he had some chances to defend properly. He missed them, and Carlsen’s advantage started to grow. Eventually very precise play was required from MVL, but he was not up to the task. He lost a pawn, then another, and ultimately the game.

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 c5 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 O-O 7. Nc3 Qc7 8. Nd5 A position that has been played many times. Wang Hao has had it more than three times with white. 8…Qxc4!? Perhaps surprised by the opening, MVL goes for a strategically dubious move.
[8… Nxd5 9. cxd5 Qa5+ 10. Bd2 Qb6 11. Bc3 e5!? Wang Hao – Grischuk, 2014. Grischuk eventually won that game.]9. Nxe7+ Kh8 10. Nxc8 Rxc8 11. O-O pair of bishops and a problem with the isolated pawn on d7. White has a slight edge, no doubt about it. 11…Nc6 12. Be3 Ng4 13. Nc2 Of course, White retains his advantages. 13…Nxe3 14. Nxe3 Qe6 15. Nd5 Bxb2 releasing some tension. Black’s best bet is to reach some kind of opposite colored bishop endgame. His position is uncomfortable, but very far from lost. 16. Rb1 Be5 17. Rxb7 Rab8 18. Rxb8 Rxb8 19. e3 Rb2 20. a4 Ne7?!
[20… Qd6! with close to equality.]21. Nf4 Bxf4!? Resourceful! Black gives up his bishop to try to create weaknesses in the opponent’s position. Taking with the g-pawn weakens the kingside, taking with the e-pawn exposes f2. 22. exf4 Qb6 23. a5! Qc5
[23… Qxa5 24. Qd4+ is no bueno.]24. Qxd7
[24. a6 d6]24… Ra2 25. Qd3 surprisingly, it isn’t easy to take on a5.
[25. Qb7 Kg7 26. a6 h5 ]25… Kg7
[25… Qxa5 26. Qd6! Ng8 27. Qd4+ is very uncomfortable.]
(25… Rxa5 26. Qd2 Rb5 Carlsen thought that this was the best way for Black. White will eventually take on a7, but the 4v3 on the kingside is not necessarily won.)]26. a6 h5 also somewhat surprisingly, Black doesn’t have to take the a-pawn! With the weakness on f2 it isn’t easy to make progress. 27. Bb7 Nf5 28. Qe4 Nd6 29. Qb1 Rd2 30. Qa1+ Kg8 31. Bg2 Nf5 32. Qe5! Black really doesn’t want to trade queens, but on the other hand the remaining pieces would be more active than White’s… a tough choice in practical play. 32…Qxe5 33. fxe5 Re2 34. Rb1! The a7 pawn is now very weak. This variation is the reason I don’t believe Black should have traded queens. 34…Rxe5 35. Rb7 Re1+ 36. Bf1 h4 37. Rxa7 h3 Black tries to create random complications, but there is nothing here. 38. Rd7! Ra1 39. g4
[39. a7! Kg7 40. g4 Nh4 41. f4 Ng2 42. Kf2 Nxf4 43. g5 finishes the game. Black is basically in zugzwang: Ra2+ 44. Kg3 Ne6 45. Bc4 with a winning position.]39…Nh4 40. Rd3 Ng2 Time trouble is over and White is up two pawns for no compensation. 41. Rxh3 Nf4 42. Rf3 g5 43. Rb3 after some thought, MVL decided that two pawns was too much. Two victories in a row for the World Champion. 1-0

Round 4

Giri vs Carlsen

Next was Giri-Carlsen. The World Champion used the Sveshnikov Sicilian, not the most fashionable but strong enough in many circumstances. Giri was unable to put any real pressure on his opponent and again the opposite colored bishops reared their ugly head.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 The Sveshnikov Sicilian. It goes in and out of fashion, and Carlsen playing it might bring some attention back to a defense that is largely overlooked, despite the fact that there is no definite refutation of it. 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 Ne7 One of several possibilities Black has at his disposal. Krasenkow likes to play this move. 12. Nc2 Nxd5 13. Qxd5 Rb8 14. Nb4 Bb7 15. Qd3 O-O 16. Be2 a5 17. Nd5 b4 Giri took some time to get to this position, but Carlsen reached it relatively quickly. Black shouldn’t have any real problems in this position. This vriation has been played a couple of times. White might be able to pressure slightly on the light squares but it won’t big a big deal. 18. O-O bxc3 19. bxc3 Bg5 20. Rab1 Qd7 21. Rb3 Bc6 22. Rfb1 Rxb3 23. Rxb3 g6 24. Rb6 Rc8 25. h3 Bxd5 Even this move was maybe unnecessary.
[25… h5 26. Ra6 Bxd5 is safer: 27. Qxd5 Rc5! a nice intermezzo. 28. Qxd6 Qxd6 29. Rxd6 Rxc3=] 26. Qxd5 Rxc3 27. Rxd6 Qe7 28. Bd1 Rc7 29. g3 Kg7 White has a very minor amount of pressure, but this is way closer to a draw. Black’s bishop isn’t the greatest but White can’t create threats, so it will eventually remaneuver. 30. Ba4 Bc1 31. Rc6 1/2-1/2

Round 5

See Wesley vs Carlsen

Round 6

Aronian – Carlsen

The first couple of results of round six were far from interesting. Many predicted that while Aronian would push slightly against Carlsen, he would try to do so with minimal risk and minimal chance of succeeding. In effect, the World Champion was able to equalize without difficulties and the game was drawn.

Carlsen’s game was rather strange. He didn’t like his position from the opening, but at some point it seemed clear that the game would end in a draw. An endgame with equal pawns and opposite colored bishops seemed to seal the deal. However, the World Champion was rather careless and lost a pawn. Grischuk tortured Carlsen for a long time, until eventually Carlsen, in the bitter end, blundered.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Be3 Be6 9. Qd3 repeating the line that Anand played against MVL earlier in the tournament.9…Nbd7 Grischuk was having none of that endgame, instead he decided to allow a knight to d5, changing the pawn structure.10. Nd5 O-O 11. O-O Bxd5 12. exd5 Rc8 As is typical in the Najdorf, White exchanged a piece on d5 and now his structure has a majority on the queenside. However Black has good dark-square control and the b3 knight is very bad, it will take some time to regroup it. 13. c4 Ne8 14. Qd2 b6 Around here Carlsen mentioned that he didn’t like his position, but to be fair there is nothing immediately wrong with it. In the long-term, however, Black’s plan seems more obvious than White’s.15. Rac1 a5 16. Na1 No one wants to play this move, but it has a sneaky idea. Also it causes Grischuk to start thinking heavily.16…g6 17. b4!? Ng7
[17… axb4 18. Nc2 is the point, as the knight quickly heads to c6. Grischuk declines from taking in order to keep control of b4.]18. bxa5 bxa5 19. Bd3 Nc5 20. Bc2 a4 21. Rb1 White’s knight on a1 is awful, but he has control of the b-file, pressure on a4 and the pair of bishops. It is hard to say who is better.21…e4!? Changing the position. White is happy to trade his c4 pawn for the e5 one though. 22. Bxc5 Rxc5 23. Bxa4
[23. Qe2!? is a little more ambitious Qc7(23… f5!?)
24. Bxa4 Rxc4 25. Bc6 slight advantage to white]
[23. Bxe4 Rxc4 24. Qd3=]23… Rxc4 24. Bc6 Nf5 25. Qe2 Rc3 26. Qxe4 Ra3 White wins the pawn on e4, but thanks to this strong rook the a2 pawn is doomed. The position looks rather drawish.27. Qe2 Bf6 28. Nb3 Qe7 29. Qxe7 Nxe7 30. Nd2 Rxa2 31. Nc4 Rd8 I was expecting the players to sign the scoresheets around here, but Carlsen started playing very strange moves.32. g4?
[32. Rbd1=]32… Bd4 33. Rbd1 Bc5 Suddenly White is just worse. He has problems with his d5 pawn and the pressure on f2.34. Rd2 Rxd2 35. Nxd2 Nxc6 36. dxc6 Rc8 37. Ne4 Rxc6 38. Rd1 The extra pawn is hard to convert, but from here on out Grischuk will torture the World Champion.38…h6 39. h4 Kf8 40. Kg2 Ke7 41. Rc1 The endgame is unpleasant, though surely a computer would hold it.41…Rc8 42. Kf3 Ke6 43. Rc2 Rc7 44. h5!? Commital. Some grandmasters analyzing the game didn’t like this move.44…gxh5 45. gxh5 Bb6 46. Re2 Bd4 47. Kg3 d5 48. Nd2+ Kf5 49. Kg2 Be5 50. Nf3 Bf6 51. Ra2 Rd7 52. Ne1 Rc7 53. Kf3 Bg5 54. Ra5 Ke5 White is suffering, but it’s not so easy to make progress. The blockade on d3 will hold on strong. 55. Ke2 Ke4 56. Ra4+ d4 57. f3+ Kd5 58. Ra5+ Kc4 59. Nd3 Re7+ 60. Re5 Re6
[60… Kc3 was winning, according to Komodo, but the truth of the position is still not clear to me.]61. f4 Bf6 62. Rxe6 fxe6 63. Nf2??
[63. Kd2! was the only way to hold the position. There seems to be no way to break down the position.]63… Be7! White will soon be zugzwanged.64. Ng4 Kc3 65. f5
[65. Kd1 Bf8 66. Nf2 d3 is winning.]
[65. Nf2 Kc2 66. Nd3 Ba3 67. Nf2 Bd6 68. Nd3 Kc3 with a zugzwang.] 65… exf5! Only move. 66. Nxh6 Kc2! The pawn is unstoppable. 0-1

Round 8

Carlsen vs Nakamura

The American player very clearly was in trouble straight from the opening. Kasparov came around to talk about the game with me and he was saying how it was a position that Carlsen and he had analyzed a few years ago, and that Black wasn’t lost, but it was very very bad. Slowly the World Champion pushed Nakamura around, got a winning position and then made mistake after mistake. Somehow Nakamura was able to create counterchances in what should have been a straightforward win. Eventually, after a long torture, he survived.

In the game between Anand and Carlsen, and much like their World Championship matches, the Norwegian decided to stick to his Berlin defense. Both players played rather slowly, perhaps unfamiliar with the variation. Anand mentioned looking at this variation in the past but could not recall the specifics. Carlsen was able to trade into an opposite-colored bishop position and draw the game.